1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a weather strip which seals between a opening/closing member (such as an automobile door, a trunk lid and a sliding roof) for opening and closing a vehicle body opening and a peripheral part of the vehicle body opening.
2. Related Art
The present invention will be described taking as an example an opening trim weather strip 10 for sealing between a door 2 of an automobile and a peripheral part 6 of a vehicle body opening as shown in FIG. 3.
Conventionally, a seal between the door 2 and the peripheral part 6 of the vehicle body opening is formed by a door weather strip 160 attached to a retainer 4 mounted on an outer periphery of a door frame of the door 2, a glass run 150 attached to a channel portion 3 formed at an inner periphery of the door frame, and an opening trim weather strip 110 attached to a flange 7 formed at the peripheral part 6 as shown in FIG. 5.
Incidentally, the flange 7 is formed by an outer panel 9 defining the peripheral part 6, an interior inner panel 8, etc.
The glass run 150 includes an exterior side wall 151, a bottom wall 152, and an interior side wall 153, forming a generally U-shaped cross-section to receive an end (or edge) portion of a door glass 5 therein. The glass run 150 holds the end portion of the door glass 5 from opposite sides thereof by an exterior seal lip 154 and an interior seal lip 155 extending respectively from distal ends of the exterior and interior side walls 151 and 153, thereby sealing.
The door weather strip 160 attached to the outer periphery of the door 2 includes an attaching base portion 161, as well as a hollow seal portion 164 and a seal lip portion 166 which are formed integrally on the attaching base portion 161. The attaching base portion 161 is fitted into the retainer 4 formed at the outer periphery of the door frame, and is thus mounted to the door frame. When the door 2 is closed, the seal lip portion 166 contact with a most exterior side end of the peripheral part 6 to seal a gap between the distal end of the door frame and the exterior side end of the peripheral part 6. At this time, the hollow seal portion 164 contact with a bulge portion of the peripheral part 6 disposed on the interior side of the portion of the peripheral part 6 with which the seal lip portion 166 contacts, thereby sealing between the door 2 and the peripheral part 6.
The opening trim weather strip 110 is attached to the flange 7 formed at the opening portion in the vehicle body, and contact with the door frame, etc. to seal between the door 2 and the peripheral part 6, at a region disposed on the interior side of the region where the weather strip 160 contact with the peripheral part 6 for sealing. Namely, the opening trim weather strip 110 is attached to the flange 7 through its attaching base portion 120 of a generally U-shaped cross-section, and its hollow seal portion 130 contact with a bulge portion 2a, etc., of the door frame to seal between the flange 7 and the door 2. A core member 124 such as a metal insert for holding the flange 7 is embedded in the attaching base portion 120, and flange holding lips are formed within the attaching base portion 120.
However, this opening trim weather strip 110 has an increased weight since it has the metal insert or the like, and further this weather strip 110 is formed into such a shape that the flange 7 is inserted into the attaching base portion 120, and therefore a force is required for deforming the flange holding lips, and much time and labor have been required for attaching this opening trim weather strip 110 to the flange 7.
Furthermore, in the case where the opening trim weather strip is attached to the peripheral part 6 of the vehicle body opening which is a vehicle body opening for a side door over the entire periphery thereof, the flange 7 formed at the peripheral part 6 varies in thickness from one region to another, that is, not uniform in thickness over the entire periphery. Namely, the flange 7 is formed by joining distal end portions of a plurality of panels forming the vehicle body, and the number of the panels joined varies from 2 to 5, depending on the region, so that the thickness of the flange varies from about 1.4 mm to about 8 mm.
Therefore, in the case where the core member 24 for reinforcing purposes such as a metal insert is embedded in the attaching base portion 120 of a generally U-shaped cross-section, a force required for fitting the attaching base portion 120 on the flange 7 has increased depending on the region, and also a holding force for the flange 7 has decreased depending on the region. Therefore, attempts have been made to obtain the optimum hardness and shape of the holding lips formed within the attaching base portion 120, but this has been found not entirely satisfactory. Further, the opening trim weather strip 110 increases in weight with the use of the metal insert or the like as described above, and therefore can not meet a demand for a lightweight design of the vehicle.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, there has been proposed a weather strip in which any core member such as a metal insert is not provided in an attaching base portion (trim portion) 220, thereby enhancing its lightweight design and flexibility, and also the weather strip is attached to a flange 7 by the use of a double adhesive tape 225 (see, for example, JP-A-5-338567 Publication and JP-A-2000-335460 Publication). In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the double adhesive tape 225 is bonded to an inner surface of an exterior side wall 222 of the trim portion 220 of the weather strip 210, and a distal end portion of the flange 7 is inserted in an inclined condition into the interior of the trim portion 220, and the trim portion 220 is rotated or angularly moved about the distal end of the flange 7, so that the double adhesive tape 225 is pressed to be bonded to an exterior side surface of the flange 7.
In this case, one of the two side walls of the trim portion 220 is formed into a shorter size so that the distal end of the flange 7 can be easily inserted into an inner part of the trim portion 220. The double adhesive tape 225 is bonded to the longer side wall, and the distal end of the flange 7 is inserted into the inner part of the trim portion 220 while the trim portion 220 is kept in an inclined condition, and then the trim portion 220 is angularly moved in a direction of an arrow, thereby bonding the double adhesive tape 225 to the side surface of the flange 7, and attaching the weather strip 210 to the flange. More specifically, when the weather strip 210 is to be bonded to the flange 7 by the double adhesive tape 225, a protective tape is peeled off the double adhesive tape 225, and in an inclined condition of the trim portion 220, the distal end of the flange 7 is inserted into the trim portion 220 without contacting an adhesive surface of the double adhesive tape 225, and the trim portion 220 is angularly moved about the distal end of the flange 7, so that the double adhesive tape 225 is pressed to be bonded to the side surface of the flange 7.
This weather strip 210 is designed such that the distal end of the flange 7 is inserted into the trim portion 220, and then the trim portion 220 is angularly moved so as to attach the weather strip 210 to the flange, and therefore even in this weather strip 210, the above insertion and angular movement can not often be properly effected in the case where the plate thickness of the flange 7 varies.
As shown in FIG. 7, in order to absorb a change in the thickness of a flange 7, there has also been proposed an opening trim weather strip 310 in which a trim portion 320 is formed into a generally L-shaped cross-section, and a double adhesive tape 325 is bonded to an inner surface of an exterior side wall 321 of the trim portion 320, and a sound insulating sponge 328 is provided on a bottom wall 326. In this case, the double adhesive tape 325 is pressed to be bonded to an exterior side surface of the flange 7, and a distal end of the flange 7 is sealed by the sound insulating sponge 328.
In this case, when the opening trim weather strip 310 is attached along a corner portion, a hollow seal portion 330 formed on an exterior surface of the exterior side wall 321 is pulled, so that there is exerted a force tending to increase the angle between the exterior side wall 321 and the bottom wall 326 (which jointly form a generally L-shaped cross-section) into an obtuse angle. Therefore, a force is exerted such that the portion of the hollow seal portion 330 connected to the exterior side wall 321 tends to pull the exterior side wall 321 off the flange 7.
However, the double adhesive tape 325 is bonded on the exterior side wall 321 along a projection portion 324 thereof, and therefore is disposed at a root side-portion of the exterior side wall 321. Further, the double adhesive tape 325 is expensive, and therefore in many cases, it is formed into a relatively small width, so that the double adhesive tape 325 does not exist at the distal end of the exterior side wall 321 as shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, the exterior side wall 321 has been liable to be peeled off the flange 7 at the corner portion.